Lily's Choice
by Tundiel
Summary: What really happened in the last few weeks of Lily Potter's life? This story covers the last weeks of turmoil that Lily had to face and also incorporates my own personal theory of what really happened. Be prepared to cry...lots.
1. Chapter 1

**Lily's Choice **

**  
Chapter 1 - And so it begins...**

_She was walking through the garden behind her cottage. It was a beautiful summer's day. James was inside, keeping an eye on their newly born son, Harry. To an outsider, everything was perfect. A beautiful home, a loving young couple, and a much -loved baby to complete the picture. But Lily was troubled. The dreams she'd been having recently were worrying her, she didn't know what to do. James wasn't even aware that she was having these dreams...should she tell him about her concerns? Was she even right to be worried anyway? They could just be the unconscious thoughts that trouble every new young mum. Surely she wasn't the only mother to worry that her child would be left alone in a dangerous world?_

_She continued to walk through the garden, idly touching the various flowers that she had lovingly tended throughout her pregnancy. She paused at a particularly bright bloom. The lily was an unusually bright shade of red, with a luminous green stem. James had grown it just for her...she smiled at the memory of her husband's words...  
'We need a lily that has petals like your hair, and foliage as dazzling as your eyes. Though, of course, they will never outshine them, that's impossible...'  
Lily smiled again. Her husband was an incurable romantic sometimes - so unlike the cocky teenager that he used to be. She sighed, and came to a decision. She wouldn't tell him just yet. She would wait to see if any more dreams visited her in the night. It was probably nothing...at least, she hoped so. If what she had dreamed was going to happen, they were in for some terrible times…._

**_One year later..._**

"Mum-mummmm, mum-mummmm!"  
"Ok, Harry, I'm coming!"

Lily turned away from her diary, and looked at her son. Harry was sat in his highchair and covered in porridge. She chuckled at the sight of him waving his hands impatiently.

"Alllll gone!" drooled Harry, with a toothy grin.  
"I can see that! Let's get you cleaned up then...Uncle Sirius will be here soon to take you out."

Lily marked the page she was writing in, and went over to her son. As she picked him up, she talked baby talk to him, but her mind was on other things. She deftly bathed and dressed him, before plopping him down in his playpen and arranging all his favorite toys around him. As she pottered around, picking up stray toys and clothes, she pondered on the dreams that she had been having. She worried at her lip, weighing up the decisions that she had to make. Time was running out, and she knew that she had to tell James. The dreams were getting stronger, and more detailed. She could no longer ignore them.

"Lily?" called a voice from the kitchen.  
"Sir -rus!!" said Harry, excitedly.

Lily chuckled. "Yes, it's Uncle Sirius. Come on then, let's go and say hello."

Lily scooped Harry up into her arms and made her way to the kitchen, pinning a welcoming smile on her face. Sirius was a welcome diversion. The upbeat humor and wicked laughter that he brought to the house was contagious. It was so easy to understand why he was James' best friend. Lily had agreed wholeheartedly with having Sirius made Harry's Godfather. Since the birth of her son, Sirius had been a frequent visitor to their home. In fact, she sometimes wondered if Sirius had somehow managed to move in without her knowledge, so often was he there.

As soon as she entered the kitchen she found Sirius raiding the fridge. Rolling her eyes, she greeted him with a smile. Sirius looked up and grinned, swallowing some leftover chicken before he responded.

"How's my favorite Godson?" asked Sirius, before biting into a chicken leg again.

"Your only Godson!" said Lily wryly.

"So? He's still my favorite!" said Sirius, with a twinkle in his eye. "Anyway, don't be greedy; pass him here, I've got something for him."

"Again? You spoil him, Sirius." chided Lily."

"That's what Godfathers are for." he replied, waving a hand dismissively.

Rolling her eyes,Lily handed Harry over, and began to make some coffee. Sirius had brought Harry yet another toy; this time, a miniature flying motorbike.

"Sirius..." said Lily, in an exasperated voice.

"Well...you won't let him near the real one, so I thought I'd give him a toy one. At least he'll know what I mean when I talk about flying on my bike now!"

"I've told you before, Sirius. There's no way I'm allowing my son to go on that - that - deathtrap!"

"Awww, come on Lily, just one little go. Only around the garden a bit, he'll love it!" wheedled Sirius.

"Over my dead body!" said Lily, laughing. But even as she laughed, she had a curious prickling sensation at the back of her neck. She shivered, and put it out of her mind. She was doing that an awful lot lately. She pinned a smile on her face, and started talking to Sirius again.

"Have you seen Remus or Peter lately? James said something about Remus being ill...?"

Sirius took on a shifty expression, just as Lily had known he would.

"No, he's not ill. He's, er, having a slight problem with his, erm, condition, that's all. You know...that recurring illness he has. He manages it most of the time, but his last relapse has left him weak. He'll be fine, he just needs to rest."

Lily murmured a suitable reply, while inwardly she wondered why on earth her husband and his friends just didn't tell her the truth. She had known for a while now about Remus being a werewolf. She had sensed it, and felt only admiration for the way that Remus had dealt with his terrible affliction.

They chatted for about twenty minutes over their coffee, and then Lily waved Sirius and Harry off at the door, having first extracted yet another promise from Sirius that he wouldn't take Harry on his bike.

As they walked up the garden path, Lily sighed and closed the door. It had been a pleasant half an hour, but now it was time for the real world again. She went in search of her diary... she had plans to make.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 - 'The not so unexpected guest...'**

As soon as Sirius and Harry had left, Lily had helped herself to another coffee and retired to her bedroom to pour over her diaries. After reading the last years' entries, she had finally admitted what she had known deep down for a long time. The dreams that she had been having were telling her things, awful things. There was no point telling herself that they meant nothing, she knew better than that. Even as a child she could remember having strange dreams that seemed to speak to her. She had tried to dismiss them as being down to having an over-active imagination. But there was no denying the fact that most of her dreams normally foretold what was going to happen to her... especially the ones that occurred over and over again.

Lily chewed her lip at the thought of telling James. He was pretty open minded - well, you had to be when one of your best friends was a werewolf - but she wasn't sure how he would take the news that his wife was having prophetic dreams. She had a funny feeling that he would brush it aside, and blame it on anxiety or something. After all, almost everyone lived in fear these days, what with Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters wreaking havoc all over the place. She and James had already escaped him three times, just before she had become pregnant with Harry. James becoming an Auror certainly hadn't made their lives easy...

The question was, how was she going to broach the subject with her husband? James had such an endearingly optimistic outlook on life, it was going to be hard to persuade him that terrible things were about to happen. James had always been the type of person who thought that anything was possible. After chasing after her throughout seven years of school. Lily had the feeling that she was partly the reason that he thought like that. She sighed as pictured James's reaction to her news. He would probably listen quietly then kiss away her concerns. She had to find a way of convincing him. Luckily for her, she had a feeling that help was on its way to her. She decided to wait until that help arrived; until then she would start planning on her own. She pulled out some fresh parchment, and started making lists of the things that she needed to do. She brushed a few stray tears from her eyes impatiently. Now was not the time to get upset. She needed to focus on the difficult times that lay ahead.

Several hours later, Lily was putting the final touches to their evening meal. Sirius would be staying, so she needed to make double portions of everything. James was due home any minute, plus there was that 'help' she was expecting. It was going to be an eventful evening one way or another. She placed a fresh arrangement of flowers at the centre of the table. She had laid out four place settings, and was just uncorking a bottle of elf wine when she heard a distinct 'pop' behind her. She smiled as she felt two hands cover her eyes.

"Guess who?" whispered James.

"Well, let me see, would that be my husband?" chuckled Lily, turning around to give James a welcoming kiss.

James tenderly tucked Lily's hair behind her ears, before turning around to examine the various pots bubbling on the stove.

"Hmmm," he said, eyeing the vast amount of steaming food. "I guess Sirius is coming for dinner then."

Lily laughed. "Yes, he's due back now, actually. He took Harry out for the day."

"Four place settings? I know Remus can't come, he's still resting up. Is Peter going to join us too?"

Lily avoided her husbands' gaze, and replied in a nonchalant voice."No, not Peter. I think Albus might be popping by, actually."  
"Dumbledore? Why would he come? I haven't heard from him for a while, he usually lets me know if he's going to stop by." James shrugged his shoulders. "Then again, you're usually right with these things. You must be psychic..."

James said this jokingly, and Lily forced a smile out. What would James say is she told him that she _was_ a psychic? Of a sort, anyway...

James and Lily both turned to the door, as they had heard Sirius's and Harry's arrival. The door swung open and Sirius appeared with a grubby, but smiling, Harry in his arms.

"The adventurers return! And we're starving!" said Sirius, eagerly sniffing the aromatic air.

Lily laughed. "Yes... and dirty, too! Sirius, you go and wash up please...I like clean people at my table." she said, taking Harry so that she could wash and change him too.

Twenty minutes later they were all seated at the table, about to be served their meal. Lily looked at the clock... it said 7.30pm. She raised her eyebrows and paused in the act of dishing up the vegetables. There was a 'rap-rap' at the door.

_Bang on time._ she thought, as she opened the door and came face to face with Albus Dumbledore. There was an awkward moment when neither of them said anything; they simply regarded each other solemnly. Then Dumbledore smiled, and greeted Lily warmly.

"Lily, my dear, how nice to see you! I hope I am not disturbing your evening meal?"

"Of course not, Albus! Come in and take a seat, I've got a place already set for you..."

"Hmmm, I rather thought you would." said Dumbledore, knowingly.

Lily flushed slightly, and closed the door with a soft 'thwump.' She turned around and caught James glancing at her quizzically. She just smiled and shrugged, as if to say_ Well, I told you so_. James shook his head ruefully, and joined Sirius in greeting their former headmaster, and trusted friend.


End file.
